Ministry of Railways
Ministry of Railways signs MoU with University of Birmingham for establishment of Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems
Decisive step towards capacity building in the transportation sector
The National Rail Transport Institute, a deemed to be university under the Ministry of Railways, signed an MoU with the University of Birmingham in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi on December 18th, 2019 to set up its first Centre of Excellence for Next Generation Transportation Systems. The MoU was signed by Mr. Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman, Railway Board and Chancellor of NRTI, and Professor Clive Roberts, Head of the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education  at the University of Birmingham.
Indian Railways is a founding partner of this centre and would provide proprietary data, professional expertise, spare equipment and other available resources directly or through its Centralised Training Institutes and research organisations. The centre would also invite partnerships from other industry and academic organisations as it develops in the future.
This Centre will be involved in promoting development of the Rail and Transportation sector in India which include offering post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes, customized training programmes for in-service professionals, undertaking joint research projects in areas such as signalling, communication, asset maintenance, traction and safety and developing benchmarks, standards and certifications for specialized skills. It will also be involved in organising knowledge events, conferences, workshops to disseminate trends, latest research, global best practices and developments in the transportation sector, accessible to industry and academia.
The establishment of this centre is yet another step towards building our capacity in the transportation sector, which would prepare our youth for participating in building and operation of national projects such as High-Speed Railways, modernizing Indian Railways signalling systems, rolling stock and operations. Its pedagogy would nurture creativity and entrepreneurship among NRTI students providing them an opportunity to become best in class professionals, influential leaders, nation-builders and value driven citizens.
About the National Rail Transport Institute
The National Rail Transport Institute has been set up as a deemed to be university and has been operational since 2018. In addition to Schools and Departments in various disciplines, NRTI aims to develop interdisciplinary Centres of Excellence which would be collaborative constructs to promote research and education to the transportation sector. NRTI’s strategy is focussed upon sourcing the best expertise from around the world from leading global institutions through institutional partnerships for collaborating on developing curriculum, research projects and executive education programs.Further details about the institution are available at www.nrti.edu.in
About University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is home to the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education  with over 150 academics, researchers and professional services staff, delivering world-class research, education and leadership to the global rail industry. The BCRRE is the largest university-based centre for railway research and education in Europe, involved in developing world-leading new technologies alongside higher education programmes, research and innovations in Climate Change, Aerodynamics and International Benchmarking, Power Systems and Energy Use, Railway Control and Operations Simulation.